Father Cat was taking the kids sailing, but it started to rain so they had to call it off. On the way home, though, they bump into Rudolph Von Flugel who suggests a detour to the airport as there’s lots of things to see and do there.

This is a rather eclectic Richard Scarry book that explains about airports and the things you might find there, focusing on descriptions and new vocabulary more than an actual story. There’s lots to see and spot on every page, and a few running themes (like the runaway hat) which are drawn out over a few pages. The pictures are bright and the pages full of crazy animals and creatures who are visiting or working in the airport.

I didn’t have a child to hand, so I shared this one with the Boy. He has worked at airports for many years and I have visited airports for many years, but our opinions were rather different. I thought this might be good for a child whose parent works at an airport as it’s always fun to find out more about what mum and dad do all day, but all I got was a list of inaccuracies in the book. I think someone was maybe missing the point of who it was aimed at, but either way, comments were made about how this was wrong and that was wrong, and those bits over there wouldn’t happen. So perhaps one better shared by those a little less in the know about such things.

From my perspective, though, I thought it was rather fun. Who wouldn’t like a bratwurst balloon or a car park full of badly parked cars? Or how about airport shopping with a stall just for bananas for those in-flight potassium emergencies? I liked some of the finer attention to detail, like the Ghostbusters style cleaner heading on board to prep the plane for a quick turnaround, and the recycling trucks showing what a green place it all was. There’s a huge amount to see and talk about on every page and you could read it several times and keep spotting something different.

This is, to me, a typical Richard Scarry book, so if you’re familiar with his earlier works you’ll have a good idea of whether or not you’ll like this one. The lack of story didn’t bother me but as a result I do think it’s perhaps for slightly older children who can get engaged and animated and into a discussion with you about what you can see and what it all means rather than sitting there to listen to the sound of your voice as they drift off to sleep. It’s also not the best book for preparing for a first trip on a plane because it focuses on the terminal, not the in-flight experience. If that’s what you’re after there are several more targeted books out there.